In modern high speed communication links between serializer/deserializer (SerDes) devices such as Ethernet switches, the receiver typically carries the burden of complexity to deliver a stable, reliable link with a low error rate (e.g., 1 error in 1018 received bits). This results in receivers that are expensive to design and have high power consumption. In addition, link training is typically performed during link start-up for devices that function as endpoints for communication links but stopped once the communication link transitions to steady-state operations.